23 Best Mental Health, Self-Help Books

Based on Mike Bayer’s New York Times bestseller Best Self, a motivational, do-it-yourself workbook teaching you how to reinvent your life and live every day as your Best Self.

In Best Self, Mike Bayer, known to his fans and followers as Coach Mike, empowered his listeners to embrace authenticity, break through obstacles, and discover the freedom to be their best selves. By working through each of the Seven SPHERES of life–Social, Personal, Health, Education, Relationships, Employment, and Spiritual Development–Coach Mike distilled his wisdom into a focused guide to get real results. Now, Coach Mike, a regular on The Dr. Phil Show, expands upon his tried-and-true strategy for igniting change and shows you how to design a life that is deeply fulfilling.

In this fully interactive workbook, Coach Mike builds on the revealing quizzes, provocative questionnaires, and paradigm-shifting prompts he introduced in Best Self. Using his important but tough questions and exercises, he can help anyone see what their Best Selves and Anti-Selves really look like. The truth is, we all show up in slightly different ways within each of our seven SPHERES. We behave differently when we are in “parenting” mode, versus “career” mode, and so on. That’s to be expected to a degree, but where we run into trouble is when we aren’t always acting as our Best Self within all of our SPHERES. This workbook helps the reader discover personalized strategies for consistently staying connected to and behaving authentically within each SPHERE, because if we aren’t, then we run the risk of getting way out of balance in some areas of our lives.

As a mental health specialist, a personal development coach, and an all-around change agent, Coach Mike understands our struggles intimately, because he’s faced–and overcome–his own. With this essential handbook, he makes you see that change is possible.

Be Your Best Self will give listeners the tools to build a better life, in real-time.

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

Life is hard. But it gets a whole lot easier when you start to talk it out. In How Am I Doing?, you’re invited into a series of conversations with yourself to improve your mental health as you discover your purpose, honor your story, and explore who you want to be.

Dr. Corey Yeager, psychotherapist for the NBA’s Detroit Pistons and most recently featured on Oprah and Prince Harry’s The Me You Can’t See on Apple TV+, offers you 40 questions to help you raise awareness of your thoughts and emotions and reconnect with who you want to be.

Over the course of these 40 conversations with yourself, you’re invited to:

• Build trust with yourself
• Consider how past traumas affect your life today
• Grow a practice of positive self-talk
• Let go of guilt and regret from your past
• Develop mental health strategies for what to for moments when you’re depressed or anxious
• Increase your confidence and embrace your emotions

Each of the 40 questions is paired with a short, thoughtful reflection from Dr. Yeager, along with prompts and self-care strategies to help you look at yourself in the mirror and come into alignment with who you want to be.

So join the conversation; nothing is off-limits here. Come check in with yourself and take these small, simple steps to journey toward a more honest and harmonious way of living.

Overthinking, ruminating, worrying: bestselling author Gwendoline Smith explains this common form of anxiety and offers helpful advice for overcoming it.
Psychologist Gwendoline Smith explains in clear and accessible language the concepts of positive and negative overthinking, the truth about worry, and how to deal with the “thought viruses” that are holding you back.

She helps you understand what’s going on in your head–using examples, anecdotes, and plenty of humor–and she offers powerful strategies for addressing your issues.

Based on cognitive behavioral theory, this book will help you combat anxious thought patterns in all areas of your life: from your personal life to relationships and work.

A narcoleptic’s tireless journey through the neuroscience of disordered sleep

Whether it’s a bout of bad jet lag or a stress-induced all-nighter, we’ve all suffered from nights that left us feeling less than well-rested. But for some people, getting a bad night’s sleep isn’t just an inconvenience: it’s a nightmare. In Sleepyhead, science writer Henry Nicholls uses his own experience with chronic narcolepsy as a gateway to better understanding the cryptic, curious, and relatively uncharted world of sleep disorders. We meet insomniacs who can’t get any sleep, narcoleptics who can’t control when they sleep, and sleep apnea victims who nearly suffocate in their sleep. We learn the underlying difference between morning larks and night owls; why our sleeping habits shift as we grow older; and the evolutionary significance of REM sleep and dreaming. Charming, eye-opening, and deeply humanizing, Sleepyhead will help us all uncover the secrets of a good night’s sleep.

Real self-care practices to enrich every part of your life

Picture your best life: Where would you work? What would your social calendar look like? What personal interests would you be exploring? This book is your prescription to turn those visions into a reality―with proven self-care strategies for every area of your life.

The Self-Care Prescription empowers you to find balance and purpose in your relationships, work, and life. From creating a plan to spend more time with family and friends, to zeroing-in on a career that you can feel good about, the book will help you create a personalized self-care plan. You’ll also learn actionable techniques to fight anxiety, demotivation, or whatever else is holding you back from building the life you want to live.

The Self-Care Prescription includes:

Self-care 101―Learn what “self-care” really means, and how you can start practicing it every day.A full-spectrum plan―Bring self-care to the physical, spiritual, emotional, intellectual, vocational, and social areas of your life.Best-life strategies―Unwind with mindfulness breathing practices or start eating right with healthy meal planning―you’ll find tons of actionable self care techniques to help you reach your goals.

Be the friend you want to be to yourself and others. Be engaged with what you do. Whatever self-care means to you, you’ll find your own personal practice in this book.

A collection of the works of Dr. Know that provides a little guide to your big feelings.
Clinical psychologist Dr. Gwendoline Smith (AKA Dr. Know) provides an informative and accessible guide to understand and manage your feelings. The Book of Knowing contextualizes the basics of cognitive behavioral therapy for anyone new to these concepts.

In The Book of Overthinking, Dr. Know expands on the topics of overthinking, ruminating, and worrying — common symptoms of anxiety. By using her clear advice and tangible examples, you’ll find powerful strategies for addressing these issues in your life.

From stress-induced symptom searching and “miracle cures” to the wellness fads filling your social media timeline, health journalist Casey Gueren digs into why we’re so anxious about our health and how to separate medical facts from fiction.

Surrounded by “health hacks” and clickbait headlines, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed and underprepared when it comes to taking care of your health. But despite what the wellness industry told you, you don’t need another cleanse, detox, or supplement–you need a crash course in separating hype from health.

In It’s Probably Nothing you’ll find a health journalist’s tools and tips to. . .

• Fine-tune your B.S. detector and spot the wellness industry’s sneaky tricks
• Get answers to your health questions without spiraling down search holes
• Manage health stress and learn to listen to your body (just enough)
• Decode the latest overhyped health headlines
• Find compassionate, evidence-based care that works for you
• And so much more

Packed with illuminating information, funny personal anecdotes, concrete strategies for coping, quotes from dozens of medical experts, and a foreword by New York Times-bestselling author of The Vagina Bible Dr. Jen Gunter, this book is the perfect companion for navigating our wellness-obsessed world with a little less stress and a lot more information.

One of the most influential living psychologists looks at the history of his life and discipline, and paints a much brighter future for everyone.

When Martin E. P. Seligman first encountered psychology in the 1960s, the field was devoted to eliminating misery: it was the science of how past trauma creates present symptoms. Today, thanks in large part to Seligman’s Positive Psychology movement, it is ever more focused not on what cripples life, but on what makes life worth living — with profound consequences for our mental health.

In this wise and eloquent memoir, spanning the most transformative years in the history of modern psychology, Seligman recounts how he learned to study optimism — including a life-changing conversation with his five-year-old daughter. He tells the human stories behind some of his major findings, like CAVE, an analytical tool that predicts election outcomes (with shocking accuracy) based on the language used in campaign speeches, the international spread of Positive Education, the launch of the US Army’s huge resilience program, and the canonical studies that birthed the theory of learned helplessness — which he now reveals was incorrect. And he writes at length for the first time about his own battles with depression at a young age.

In The Hope Circuit, Seligman makes a compelling and deeply personal case for the importance of virtues like hope, gratitude, and wisdom for our mental health. You will walk away from this book not just educated but deeply enriched.

Do you feel that no matter how hard you try it is never good enough?

Do you spend too much time trying to get things exactly right in order to avoid criticism?

Does it seem that at any minute people will find out that you are not really what you seem to be?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you may be struggling with perfectionistic tendencies. They can serve a positive purpose in your life. But having extremely high standards for yourself and others can leave you feeling let down–over and over again–when these expectations aren’t met. As psychologist and researcher Monica Ramirez Basco explains, uncontrolled perfectionism can lead to depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, fear of failure, and broken marriages and friendships.

In Never Good Enough, Dr. Basco helps you understand why you feel driven to get things “just right” and shows you how to make the best of your perfectionism. Filled with practical advice, encouragement, and strategies for self-discovery, this invaluable guide includes Dr. Basco’s own thirty-question self-test that will help you recognize and manage the negative side of your perfectionism. You will learn how to stop the struggle with yourself and others, how to evaluate your worth and performance in life, and how to replace the pursuit of perfection with peace of mind.

You can build authentic social connections–even while physically apart.

We are wired for social connection; our mental health depends on it. From a simple smile from a stranger on the street to a hug from a relative or close friend, we humans thrive when we feel connected to one another. And yet, loneliness is on the rise.

The good news is, you don’t have to continue suffering in silence. In this powerful audiobook, renowned mental health expert and addictions counselor Dr Bill Howatt drills into the root causes of isolation and loneliness–including the double-edged sword of digital technology–and shows you how to conquer them to achieve a more fulfilling, enriching life.

Through a compelling mix of real-life case studies, self-reflection exercises, and cognitive behavioral techniques, you’ll learn how to recognize your own self-limiting thoughts and behaviors, unlock your mental traps, and close the social connection gaps in all areas of your life–from the personal to the professional. Employers will also find tips for boosting psychological safety in the workplace and among their virtual teams.

No single pill or exercise offers an escape from isolation; the cure for loneliness lies in a combination of realizing where you’re stuck, and closing social connections gaps in meaningful ways. But if you commit to doing the work, you can become who you want to be. You can have more meaningful social connections. Ultimately, you’ll see that why you feel isolated and lonely may not be as important as what you learn to do with it.

A no-nonsense and helpful guide on how to cope with a slew of mental-health issues that are hell-bent on ruining the lives of millions of people worldwide

Our brains do their best to help us out, but every so often they can be real assholes–having meltdowns, getting addicted to things, or shutting down completely at the worst possible moments. Your brain knows it’s not good to do these things, but it can’t help it sometimes–especially if it’s obsessing about trauma it can’t overcome. That’s where this life-changing book comes in.

With humor, patience, science, and lots of good-ole swearing, Dr. Faith explains what’s going on in your skull, and talks you through the process of retraining your brain to respond appropriately to the nonemergencies of everyday life, and to deal effectively with old, or newly acquired, traumas (particularly post-traumatic stress disorder).

Many introverts in our world: More and more, people are identifying as introverts. Studies show that at least one-third of the people we encounter in our lives are introverts.

Introverts and relationships: The Quiet Rise of Introverts: 8 Practices for Living and Loving in a Noisy World is a guide to help tenderhearted and introverted individuals grow and nurture their peace, purpose, and relationships.

Many types of introverts: There are many facets to being an introvert and many variations to each type. But as you peel back the layers to all these you quickly learn that introverts may make up 50 percent of the world’s population.

Introverts and sensitivity: Author, speaker, and life coach Brenda Knowles presents eight unique practices to help readers learn that they are not alone or flawed in their sensitivity and introversion. Certified as a Myers-Briggs practitioner, she has been writing and guiding introverts for five years in space2live and has provided training as a family mediator.

Incorporating the eight practices into your life yields

a calmer sense of self,a deeper understanding of mental and physical self-care,an embracing of positive conflict,growth in responsiveness, andthe secret to healing every day.

A practical, inclusive guide to life from Instagram’s favourite psychologist Chris Cheers.

Take a moment and check in with how you’ve been feeling lately. Maybe a little tired, stressed or burnt out? All the recent upheaval and uncertainty has left many of us not only feeling exhausted, but also questioning who we are and what we want from life. Yet instead of taking the necessary time to process and answer these important questions, many of us are feeling pressured to just get back to ‘normal’. But what if we want better than normal? The world has changed – we have changed – so when it comes to caring for our wellbeing, it’s clear we need new rules.

The New Rulebook is a practical, game-changing guide to embracing that uncertainty. It compassionately asks you to re-examine five key areas: self-care, emotions, work, body and love (all the big stuff!), and then offers radical, evidence-based solutions to improve your wellbeing. Led not by expectation, but by what you need. The rulebook for life has been thrown out the window over the last few years. Rather than picking it back up, let’s write a new one.

PRAISE FOR THE NEW RULEBOOK

‘A must-read for anyone who’s overwhelmed by the increasing uncertainty of the world.’ Osher Gunsberg

‘Chris Cheers has a way of explaining the world and how we live that will make real changes to our future.’ Jacinta Parsons, ABC Radio Melbourne

‘This is a book you’ll want to return to – again and again – every time things get tough.’ Benjamin Law

‘This psychology book is like no other. The author challenges core beliefs, whilst being affirming and refreshingly open about himself. It punches. Read it.’ Dr Mark Cross, psychiatrist and bestselling author of Anxiety

‘The practical tips he provides leave the reader with no excuse but to set those boundaries and start living in alignment.’ Jessica Sanders, social worker and bestselling author of Me Time

‘Chris Cheers’ words have been so comforting throughout the pandemic. This book is a practical and kind resource for anyone looking for mental-health coping strategies.’ Carly Findlay OAM

‘At a time of great upheaval and uncertainty, The New Rulebook is the anchor we need to pull us back to shore and live a calmer, more meaningful life.’ Jill Stark, mental health advocate and bestselling author of High Sobriety

‘This book held me at the edge of feeling both challenged and safe. I read it in one sitting – but I will keep it close by for the powerful reminders, interventions and ideas it offers. Cheers shows us the potential of rewriting the script in a way that is so validating, humanising and aware.’ Georgia Grace, certified Australian sex coach

‘In this book, Chris provides a new way of being – one which is centred on good care for self, good care for others and good care for the world.’ Dr Ahona Guha, clinical and forensic psychologist, and author

Most people are stuck living life on autopilot. Are you ready to break free?

At the root of all healing work is awakening consciousness, a process of shining light into the darkness of the unknown. In recent years, Dr. Nicole LePera has become the leading voice in psychological self-healing, helping millions of people around the world rise out of survival mode to consciously create authentic lives they love.

In her first book, How to Do the Work, Dr. Nicole offered readers a revolutionary, holistic framework for self-healing. Now, in How to Meet Your Self, she shares a book designed to help every listener uncover their Authentic Self. By objectively and compassionately observing the physical, mental, and emotional patterns that fill our days and create our current selves, we can more clearly see what we do not wish to carry into the future.

We all fall into conditioned habits and patterns–products of our past–that lead to cycles of pain, stuckness, and self-destruction. But as Dr. Nicole shares, we also have the innate ability to awaken to and change the behaviors and habits that no longer serve us, allowing us to step into the highest versions of ourselves. And as you work through this book and witness these default habits, from sleep to movement to eating, through emotional reactivity and core beliefs, you will never again have to ask: “but where do I start?”

How to Meet Your Self is a revolutionary guide, a kind and encouraging companion, and a comprehensive masterwork of self-understanding that will radically transform your inner work and outer world.

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.